84 Muslims Die In Thailand Arrests

Detainees Were Either Crushed Or Suffocated

October 27, 2004|By Ellen Nakashima The Washington Post

JAKARTA, Indonesia — At least 78 Muslim men suffocated or were crushed to death in southern Thailand on Monday as they were being taken to military barracks in packed army trucks following a riot, Thai officials said Tuesday.

The news, coming a day after officials said only six people were killed when security forces tried to break up the protest, sparked fears of further violence and official abuses in the already tense south. Muslims, an oppressed minority in the largely Buddhist country, outnumber Buddhists in that region.

The revised death toll of at least 84 was Thailand's second deadliest this year, following an April 28 assault by security forces that left at least 112 dead, mostly Muslims. The incident was the latest sign that Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's campaign to quell a 10-month rebellion in the south is failing.

Monday's protest began when hundreds of residents gathered outside a police station in Tak Bai, a district in Narathiwat province, demanding the release of six men accused of giving weapons to Islamic insurgents. Military officials said the crowd ranged from 1,500 to 2,000 people. Army officials said more than 1,300 were detained.

Justice Ministry official Manit Sutaporn said in Pattani that the 78 detainees likely suffocated from being piled in the trucks. "We found no wounds on their bodies," he said.

A forensic expert at the ministry, Pornthip Rojanasunan, said the men could have been gagged to death. "They might have had something stuffed in their mouths or nostrils," she said.

"I'm absolutely shocked," said Ahmad Somboon Bualang, a sociologist and retired university lecturer in Pattani. "For people to die like this during Ramadan, in the Muslim fasting month, is tragic. Suffocating to death is more violent than being shot to death. These people suffered greatly in dying."

Television newscasts on Tuesday showed rows of mostly young men sprawled on the ground, roped together with their shirts off and hands tied behind their backs. The scene was apparently filmed before the men were placed in trucks to be taken to an army barracks in Pattani, about 60 miles north of Tak Bai.

Thaksin himself went to the spot and ordered the military to disperse the crowd, said a security analyst. At least 300 troops with assault weapons surrounded the protesters, firing water cannons, tear gas and live rounds. The demonstrators threw stones, according to wire service reports.

Thaksin suggested Tuesday that the detainees could have died because they were "weak" from fasting during Ramadan, the Associated Press reported.